


The Lily of Leverage, Inc.

by HurtComfortHaven



Category: Leverage
Genre: Child Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:40:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23794774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HurtComfortHaven/pseuds/HurtComfortHaven
Summary: Fate decides to give Eliot Spencer another chance for what he did with Moreau. Only, Eliot isn't the best with kids. That's where the rest of the team comes in. Life will never be quite the same again.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at a story. I came up with this after three days of not sleeping, and I apologize if that shows. I don't own anything recognizable.

Moreau’s Mistake

Eliot Spencer had wanted a break after the Moreau job for more than just a simple break. Every time he saw something that reminded him of what he’d done, he had to either punch something or meditate, otherwise the whole team would see him break. He couldn’t let the team see him break, because sometimes it seemed like he was the only damn thing keeping them alive. Idiots.  
Thinking of his team brought back feelings that he hadn’t allowed himself to feel since he had last worked for Moreau, and he had slowly been learning to accept that he cared (which was dangerous) when Nate had mentioned the damn Italian. He’d hoped that he’d have more time to talk them out of it but it had been too late. He was walking home from the bar after a late (early, considering it was past 2am) game night, since it wasn’t too far of a walk back to his place. It was easier to lose someone if they were chasing him on foot, and sometimes he just liked walking. It was chilly, but not so chilly that he was bothered by it. Hell, he had been almost trapped in a snow cave with Parker little more than a week ago and never thought he could be cold again after that.  
He had circled around his apartment a few times but knew he could never be too careful. The streets were dark this late at night even to his trained eyes. It seemed he was right to be paranoid as he heard a quiet tap of something following him. He turned and moved so fast that he was only a blur as he pinned whatever was following him to the wall, but loosened his bruising grip almost completely as he realized what he’d just done. It was a child, couldn’t look older than four or five. And she was looking at him so full of terror that it made something deep in his stomach clench. He almost let go, but instead grabbed her wrist gently. Eliot recognized the look in her eyes this time, it was the look of a child who had been subjected to no things any child should face. He sighed, trying to calm himself before he spoke to her, so as not to spook her more than he had. Seeing the red marks already forming on her chest through her tattered shirt, though, he knew that wasn’t likely to be successful.  
“Hey there. I’m not gonna hurt ya, darlin’. It’s not safe to be out here this late at night, and you should never sneak up on people,” He said, not surprised when she shrank back further. Eliot was surprised, however, when she shakily handed him a tattered old packet of paper. It had his face on it, and he subconsciously tightened his fists when he saw the script of Damien Moreau’s handwriting on the paper. He immediately loosened them, realizing he was hurting the child. He looked closer at the writing to decipher it and suddenly it was difficult to breathe.  
Elliot Spencer  
DNA- cultured and processed  
Related subject:3  
Subject status: Alive  
DOB: June 07 2002  
He flipped the page and saw a picture of the child herself. It was a passport, and she had simply been labeled Spencer. She had come to America a little over 3 years ago and from the looks of it had been sent off to a foster home or orphanage immediately after arrival. He was shaking now, although it had nothing to do with the cold. This didn’t make sense at all. Why would Moreau just let her go? Then he saw a third and final page that he hadn’t noticed, and it had the FBI logo stamped on it. The words seized with 2 others upon arrival, bio father not located/unavailable. Taken to foster home glared at him in bright red letters. Trying to get his emotions under control, he looked back at the too tiny girl. Blue eyes met terrified blue eyes and with that single look he made a decision. Not again. No more mistakes.  
Eliot moved as slowly as he could, speaking softly as he did, “I’m going to carry you, okay? I’m gonna take you to my friend’s apartment, he’ll know how to handle this better than I can.” No sooner had the words left his mouth than her legs suddenly buckled underneath her. Eliot cursed under his breath as he caught the girl. He realized that she probably hadn’t been in the best homes if her behavior was anything to go by. Quickly recognizing that she was still breathing although her lips were turning blue, he tried to tell himself it was better that she was unconscious for now. He wrapped her in his jacket and it easily swallowed her. Eliot walked as fast as he could, carrying without drawing attention to himself. He soon reached the bar again and banged impatiently on the door.  
The man was about to kick the door in when Hardison of all people finally opened it, yawning. “Eliot you really couldn’t have wai-” he started, shutting up immediately as he barged in without speaking, heading straight for the first aid closet he kept stocked. Grabbing the huge kit, he gently placed the child on the couch as he growled at Hardison to wake Nate up. Hardison didn’t even argue, though he muttered something about kidnapping charges. Eliot ignored him and immediately started stripping the child’s clothes off to assess the damage. “Hardison, bring down one of Nate's t-shirts!” he yelled. He went deathly pale as he realized there was blood in the little girl’s tattered shorts, and he was reminded yet again of the cruelty of the world. There was hardly any doubt in his mind that this was the nameless, faceless child who had haunted his dreams for 8 years. There were bruises covering most of her body, and scars everywhere. “Freak” was the word that appeared carved into her skin most, and he knew he was going to have to go to the authorities for this. Nate was stumbling down the stairs just as he was wrapping the child up in his coat again. The older man took one look and all traces of tiredness was gone, and Eliot growled out “Hospital. Nate I didn’t bring my car.” But Nate was already grabbing his coat and shoes, halfway out the door.  
As they pulled out of the bar parking lot, Nate asked, “Do you have an alias? Cover story? Getaway plan? Eliot we can’t just do this, there are serious risks. I know you’re smart en…” He had trailed off seeing Eliot’s shaking hands and deathly white face, and the packet of tattered papers he had waved wordlessly.  
“It’s gonna have to be the truth this time Nate,” Eliot said, unable to completely hide the tremor in his voice. As they pulled up to the hospital the comms they had put in their ears switched on. Hardison came over the static, “Eliot, Nate, you copy? Parker Sophie and I are standing by in Lucille for getaway.”  
“No getaway this time, I have no idea what’s going on but I trust Eliot.” Nate replied. Eliot ran inside the emergency room doors as soon as the vehicle stopped, and seeing the small bundle in his arms they sent him straight back with a nurse. He handed the packet to the security guard and said to call the cops, already anticipating the next move. Only once they had pried the little girl out of his arms to take her back for tests did he bury his head in his hands and let out the shaky breaths he had been trying to conceal. A nurse put a hand on his shoulder and it was only the memory of what had happened earlier that kept him from punching first. She led him to a room where the rest of the team was already waiting, and they all stared up at him. This wasn’t an Eliot thing to do.  
A police officer came to take his statement in the hallway before Eliot could say anything. He was completely honest with everything he said, blaming his reflexes on the service. The officer nodded as he went on with his story and sighed when it was finished, telling him that an FBI officer familiar with the Moreau subjects was en route. He decided to just wait in the hallway and repeated the same story to the FBI agent. The agent seemed to believe him as she smiled sadly at him. “We’re going to cross reference your story, make sure people have seen her in the streets, and give you a dna test. Assuming everything turns out well, you should be able to get custody. Make sure you’re thinking of a name for her, she’s likely never been called anything good,” she ended her questioning and handed him back the papers.  
Eliot walked into the room after regaining what he could of his usual stoicism, but the team saw right through the act. Without a word, he handed Nate the packet and sat down in the chair they had left open for him. As Nate scanned the papers, his face got even paler than it already was from being in a hospital. He stared at Eliot and simply said, “It wasn’t killing people, was it? The worst thing you did was leaving her with Moreau.”  
“He told me he took DNA from everyone, to implicate us if our cover was blown. I was 20 years old man. I never wanted kids. He threatened my family, threatened Aimee. I walked away. Didn’t even try.” Eliot growled not looking up, expecting to be kicked of the team any minute. There was silence for a moment, but before it could be broken the door opened and a bed and monitors were being wheeled in. Eliot stood immediately to make more room for the doctors and bed, but the doctor motioned him to sit cautiously.  
“6 broken ribs, a minor concussion, and some infected cuts were the first thing we found. Then we discovered major internal bleeding and it was coming from her reproductive system. We had to remove the whole thing. The assault kit tested positive”-at this Eliot’s breath hitched violently-”and we’re working with law enforcement on identifying a suspect immediately. Her dental age checks out to be 8 years old as the birth certificate says, though we think that whoever was holding her was experimenting with anti-aging drugs. She is closer to the age of 3 years old in size, and mentally is anyone’s guess. We don’t know when, or even if, she’ll wake up. I’m sorry.” The doctor then asked if there were any questions and Eliot just shook his head numbly. The FBI agent stepped up next, and silently held out an envelope to Eliot, waiting expectantly.  
Eliot didn’t quite manage to hide the trembling in his hands as he opened the letter. He stared at the paper in his hands blankly for a solid 5 seconds and then looked up slowly. “Her name is Lily Spencer.” he said, allowing the ghost of a smile on his face. The room let out a collective breathe, as the FBI agent smiled. “I’ll get the custody paperwork ready. You’ve been cleared of all suspicion,” she said softly, and walked out of the room along with the doctor. Eliot let out a barely audible groan as he dropped his head in his hands.


	2. Wake-up Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mushy comfort stuffs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is too OOC for Eliot but it's what I could come up with.

Lily (though she didn’t know that was her name yet) had been searching for him for years. Hoping that against all odds he’d want her, no matter what Moreau had said. But with every foster home that passed her on she lost more and more hope that anyone could want her. There was something wrong with her. She was broken. 

Lily heard voices raised and she wanted to curl in on herself, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. It felt impossible to move. She heard a growly voice saying something about three days, and then the same growly voice said roughly “Damn it, Hardison,” a minute later as there was suddenly a very loud beeping noise. “Everyone OUT. NOW!” yelled another voice, this one sounded like a slight slur and she knew what that slur meant. But seconds later the slurred voice was less slurred and more sad.

“Hey, kiddo. I sent your daddy out, he sounds grumpy a lot but he’s a great guy deep down. I’ve never seen him be mean to a kid, ever. And sometimes he sings to you under his breath, when he thinks I’m asleep. Always tells me to leave but I don’t do hospitals or leaving, see, I had a son who was about your age….” The man’s voice was soft and safe sounding and she could feel herself floating again. The next time she kind of woke up, she heard growly voice again, who had been getting growly at someone called Nate, but then he was singing quietly when she heard the beeping noise again, like he was scared. “That’s just me… thinking of you,” he finished softly. But then he touched her face, where a strand of hair had fallen, and she was scrambling away from it, and the beeping was faster and louder and scary, which only made it louder. She shifted away a bit more and suddenly she was falling…. 

But Lily never hit the ground. Eliot had been frozen for a second when she had moved, but his reflexes screamed at him with instincts fast enough to move across the bed and gently catch her, not missing the immediate rigidity. Then he stared at Nate with a slightly panicked what the hell do I do now?! look. He didn’t put her down, though.

Lily was so surprised that she wasn’t hurting on the floor that she opened her eyes, and was staring straight up at the man she’d been looking for for three years. Instincts still won out however as she tightly curled into a ball, not quite able to hide her hiss of pain as she realized she had broken ribs. This caught the attention of both men in the room, who immediately stared at the girl like she was a bomb that was counting down. She shrank back further and this snapped Eliot out of it. He quickly yet gently sat her down on the bed and backed away, using his training in how to handle rescued hostages. 

Suddenly doctors were rushing into the room, and the beeping noise was even louder and it felt like her chest was being crushed. They had a cart and Nate was starting to yell and so was Eliot as her heart went out of rhythm. The doctors ripped her gown off and this only made the beeping worse. Suddenly there was pain as they shocked her heart back into rhythm and for the worst few seconds, there was a flatline. 

Then suddenly she was back. Nate and Eliot both looked like death had visited them instead. “Normal sinus rhythm,” The doctor finally said, just as she started to open her eyes again. Lily had heard the yelling, but hadn’t been able to feel scared. The doctor and nurses saw the terror in her eyes as they stood over her and they put one of the guard rails on the bed up. They backed off quickly and motioned to Eliot to follow, it looked like Nate was too close to losing it. Nate slowly walked over to the side of the bed, and Lily watched him cautiously, seeing tears in his eyes. She quickly looked at the door, though, where growly voice was talking again. Her eyes widened as she realized the man she had been looking for was growly voice. 

Eliot had barely been able to conceal his anger when the doctor pulled him aside. He wasn’t able to hide his fury as he heard their suggestion though. “Sit in the bed and hold her. She’ll struggle at first but eventually she’ll calm down, they always do.” 

“I spent two years in special forces working with rescued hostages and people who were tortured. That is the absolutely worst damn thing you can do. To make people who are already terrified feel trapped? It would weaken her heart again. Idiot!” he turned to stalk back into the room when he immediately wiped the look of fury off his face. Dammit. Lily was staring right at him with wide eyes. Now that Eliot was back in the room, Nate walked around the bed to leave, whispering “Just lean your head on the bed at first. Go slow. Talk to her. It’ll be okay.” He clapped Eliot on the shoulder and walked out of the hospital. He needed a lot of drinks. He left before he saw Eliot call Sophie to be with him for the night, explaining what had happened. 

Lily shrank back as growly man sat by the bed, on the side with the railing down. Her eyes widened impossibly as he glanced at the security camera behind him, then turned back to her without a trace of growly on his face. Eliot had lowered his guard for the first time in years and given her a true smile; the flicker of tentative hope felt like the best thing he’d ever seen. Ever. It made his smile grow to reach his eyes, and Nate, who had snuck back to peek in the doorway, motioned him to put his head on the bed.   
Eliot moved slowly as he could, showing both hands every step of the way. 

Lily saw the sad look in the man’s happy eyes when she flinched and tried not to do it again as he leaned his head on his hands, not breaking eye contact. “I ain’t gonna hurt you sweetheart, I promise,” he said, only a bit growly. His voice sounded weird, like the cowboy movies one of the foster homes had played really loud. “Do you know how to talk?” He asked quietly, he had only just realized, he’d never heard her voice. Hesitantly, Lily nodded. “I wanna hear your voice, darlin,” he coaxed gently, smiling again. 

He had big hands. Big, scarred, scary hands. Lily locked her eyes on his hands subconsciously and he slowly pulled them away from the bed. “Freaks aren’t allowed to talk,” She whispered almost imperceptibly, and Eliot froze, knowing the others were listening on comms. He heard the gasps. He slowly moved his hands back to the bed, Lily watching every move. “Is that what the foster homes called you?” he asked sadly, sighing when she started trembling. 

He was gonna send her back, she made him sad and she didn’t know what she’d done. The beeping started going a little faster. Lily studied his face and was confused. He still wasn’t mad. People started hitting before this, and she saw his fading knuckle bruises. He hit people a lot. Then she was startled as he read her mind. “I protect people. I only hurt bad people. I won’t ever hurt you, darlin’.” Eliot looked panicked as this made her tremble even more and finally she couldn’t stand it anymore. “Please don’t send me back,” she sobbed. “I’ll try not to be bad again I promise just please don’t make me go back.” Then to Eliot’s horror she closed her eyes and waited for him to swing. Just when he turned to the camera and glared a death glare, he heard Nate talking in his comm. “Scoop your hands under her and pick her up then sit on the bed. Don’t make her feel like she’s trapped, just sit her on your lap. Oh and you might wanna tell her she has a name pretty soon,” Eliot swore under his breath. “Hey,” he whispered, continuing when she opened her eyes, “If I was gonna send you back would I have given you a name?” He slowly and carefully did as Nate had told him to, even when she flinched violently. He was soon sitting on the bed with the tiny girl on his lap, and a chest that was quickly becoming soaked with tears. It was bothering him how silently she was crying. He tilted her chin up gently so she was looking him in the eye. “Lily, you’re never going back to another foster home as long as I’m here.” He gave her another real Eliot smile, ignoring the four aww’s in his ear as she gave the tiniest, quickest hope filled smile back. It was gone as quick as it had come, but Eliot knew immediately that he’d do anything in the world to see her smile again. 

Lily. She liked it. It had made her feel something that wasn’t fear for once, and growly man’s eyes were smiling. She tried to hide a yawn, and barely even flinched when Eliot moved her head to rest against his chest. She was just starting to doze off when he slowly wrapped his arms around her. Her eyes flew open and she tensed, but frowned a bit when he dropped his arms. She quickly hid this but he noticed anyway and he gingerly replaced his arms, giving her an escape if she needed it. Soon she was asleep, lulled by his calm and steady heartbeat. He smirked at the camera, and Hardison said, “I just got the world’s best home video.” Eliot thanked Hardison for once, and he shifted. He wasn’t about to risk falling asleep with this precious cargo.


	3. Reassurance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliot falls asleep, and comes to regret it. Lots of hurt/comfort and mushiness ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for references of child r*pe and abuse in this chapter. I will never, EVER write anything explicit in my fics, but as a survivor myself, writing about it is my escape. I stayed up till 4am writing this again, sorry if it's out of character. Please give tips if you have them!!! Also, a reboot was announced and that's gonna be amazing

Despite Eliot trying to stay awake, it had been a long four days since he had slept. He hadn’t wanted to miss the kid waking up, and he didn’t. He started dozing off, and was awoken with a start four hours later when the little girl in his arms started thrashing silently in her sleep. Still partially unconscious, Eliot had tightened his arms on instinct to get whoever was “attacking” him under control. Then he heard frantic yelling in his ear: “Eliot, STOP NOW,” he heard Nate say. The man was calm, yet forceful, so Eliot immediately let go, and finally realized what he’d done. He immediately sat her down and got up, trying to avoid the terror filled eyes of his own kid staring at him. Without a word, he quickly walked out of the room, a furious look on his face. How could he have been so stupid?! He started heading for his apartment, he needed to blow off some steam before he dealt with this. He kept his comm in just in case.

“I’m going in, you can’t stop me. Stay out here.” Parker said quickly, jumping out of the van. They had briefly discussed what to do if Eliot fell asleep by turning his comm off remotely. They should have expected this reaction from Eliot with his past, and Nate was currently being eaten alive with guilt. “Parker, are you sure you’re the best for this job?” Sophie asked carefully, trying not to be offensive but making sure Parker understood what was at stake. Parker gave her a small but slightly sad smile, and started heading into the hospital duct system without comment. She heard Eliot’s warning growly “Parker,” but simply scrunched up her face and didn’t reply.

Lily’s eyes widened in panic and shock when a lady opened an air duct in her room and backed up on the bed as far as she could, ignoring the fast beeping noise. Then the lady spoke in a chirpy voice: “Hi! I’m Parker. I work with your dad.” Then Parker ran straight at her bed and before Lily could do more than shriek quietly, launched herself in one fluid movement onto the bed, and sat cross legged in front of her. This, combined with her slightly painful awakening, was starting to make her panic even more. Parker shh’d at Eliot’s even angrier growl, then saw the kid looking at her like she was crazy. “Why did you think Eliot was going to hurt you when he said he only hit bad people?” Parker finally blurted, ignoring Eliot’s yell and Nate’s groan. The others were still watching the camera and listening.

Lily’s eyes widened in horror, but she knew she had to answer. You always answer grownups, unless you're getting hurt. Then you don’t tell. “I killed one of my foster parents when I was 4, but it was in another country so they said I could still come to this one” she finally said quickly. Now they definitely would send her back and the growly hitting guy would hurt her too. She wondered if he’d found out who she was yet, she hadn’t told him and probably wouldn’t. After all, Moreau told her that he knew he had a kid when he left her. She tried to hide the burning wetness in her eyes and kept her eyes down. 

Parker heard the horrified gasps from the team and Eliot’s deadly silence as he was probably on his way again, and knew it was time for some damage control. “I killed both of mine when I was 10, they stole my stuffed bunny and told me to be a better thief. So I was! And I blew them up. They were mean to me, and they deserved it. Did yours do a bad thing?” Parker said the last two sentences as gently as she could, because Lily had looked up at her with tears in her eyes, and a hint of shock and awe. 

Lily had only talked about it when she was asked yes or no questions by the nice cops who had taken her statement. She trembled and decided to tell the bunny thief. Maybe the camera she had subtly noticed had sound and her daddy wouldn’t hurt her as bad if he knew why. “I grabbed it off his belt when he was… doing the bad thing. I saw guns at the place I was before and knew how to use them and I did it. His wife called the cops. I just wanted it to stop hurting,” she said the last part in a voice barely above a whisper, but the comms picked it up anyway. There was a horrified silence over the comms, and Parker was just staring uncomfortably at her. The ‘bad thing’ didn’t have to be said, they just… Knew. There was only one thing it could if she could reach the gun, and Parker shivered. Sophie was crying over the comms and Eliot could be heard pulling his truck over. “My god….” Hardison muttered, and suddenly Eliot was flooring it to the hospital. A door was slamming on Eliot's truck. They were lucky it was dark. 

Lily’s heart rate monitor was skyrocketing as she was thrown back into the past. “He… He…” Lily couldn’t finish the thought as she heard pounding footsteps and it made the alarm blare faster when Eliot walked in. Parker jumped up and said “No, Eliot, get out,” then, seeing Nate, Sophie, and Hardison behind him, added, “Only Sophie can come in. She’s in a flashback. She’s gonna see anyone who’s a man as a threat, as the man who did it. I saw it happen a lot with my foster sister.” Eliot glared, but then deflated hearing the words. The entire team was floored when they saw his slightly damp blue eyes. Eliot, Nate, and Hardison walked out to find a nurse to explain about the alarm. 

The scene was playing over and over in Lily’s mind, and her vision had started to grey when Eliot walked in. It only cleared a bit when he left and a lady with dark hair walked in. She flinched back from her, seeing her slightly fancy clothes, she asked with a trembling voice, “Are you gonna take me away?” but she scrambled away from the lady as she sat down on the bed. 

Sophie wasn’t able to resist asking, “Do you want to go away?” ignoring Eliot’s pained question of “Why, Sophie?” Lily instinctively and immediately said “No” because that’s what you’re supposed to say, but then she frowned in confusion. She had a name now. Eliot said he wouldn’t give her away if he gave her a name. Why had he sent a social worker? Unless… She suddenly sent an accusing glare to Parker. “You told them what he did earlier!” She cried, tears finally falling. In the waiting room Eliot froze, and asked in a dangerous voice: “Me? Why would she care that Parker told Sophie about what happened?” 

“I’m not-” Sophie started.

“I looked everywhere and followed him for a week! I don’t wanna go back. I’ll just run away again. I won’t go back, I'd rather die!” She screamed, then ripped all the wires and IV’s off herself and bolted from the room. The rest of the team heard the sudden flatlining and panicked, and Sophie ran out to stop them from thinking the worst while Parker went to follow the (apparent) toddler. Eliot followed Parker while the rest of the team found a doctor to tell.

Lily ran until she found a vent that was reachable and climbed into it, used to doing this to hide from attackers and foster family. She replaced the door to appear as if it was screwed on and climbed up to a dark corner, ignoring the excruciating pain that blossomed in her chest and curling up. Lily finally let the sobs she’d been hiding out, knowing that it was unlikely someone would look for her here. Except maybe that crazy Parker person. She had been starting to like the bunny thief. Why did she tell on her? She trembled as she was wracked with another sob, sending another flare of pain through her chest. She thought about how safe she’d felt when she had fallen asleep. She had never fallen asleep with other people in the room, if she could help it. Lily then thought about the nightmare she had been having and shivered, shutting down that thought. Then what happened when she woke up entered her mind. She clearly remembered the pain in her chest when Eliot had squeezed her, but she also remembered the horror in his eyes when he put her down. He hadn’t even thrown her. It was getting harder to breathe and she realized she’d probably misplaced a rib. What Lily didn’t know was the combination of her climbing and Eliot squeezing her had sent a shattered rib through her left lung. 

“I can’t find her. It's like she disap- Wait! There’s an air duct entrance that’s been unscrewed. It’s close to the floor.” Parker tossed the grate to Eliot, who scowled at her and threw it aside. She started climbing.

Lily heard Parker getting closer and coughed as she tried to drag herself further into the duct system. She smelled and felt the blood she coughed up more than saw it because of the darkness, and couldn’t move anymore. Lily curled up and just tried to stay conscious as she saw a light approaching her. It was Parker. “Wow, kid, you could probably steal my job. I’m gonna have to teach you a few things. Sorry Eliot” She added as an afterthought. Then she scooped Lily into one arm, ignoring the flinch and stiffening, moving backwards through the duct. When they finally were out of the duct, Parker immediately dropped the kid into Eliot’s arms. He growled at Parker even as he instinctively shifted Lily so his left arm was supporting her neck and his right was under her knees. He didn’t miss the rigidity of Lily’s body and glanced down at her, smiling gently with the same smile he had used last night. It quickly morphed into a frown when he saw her face. It was pale and there was blood dripping down her mouth, which was turning blue. He was already running back to the room and growled “Just stay with me, dammit please!” He didn’t even stop when he felt his chest become soaked with something warm.

Lily stiffened when Parker dropped her into Eliot’s arms and for a second the foster memory flashed through her mind with Eliot as the bad guy. She quickly shoved the thought away, though, because he smiled at her until he saw her. Lily coughed and was horrified when she got blood all over Eliot’s clean shirt. She would have been hyperventilating if it wasn’t so hard to breathe. She wondered when he was gonna hurt her because he hurt bad guys, and people who killed people were bad. She furrowed her brow in confusion when he yelled at her to stay with him, he was carrying her. Maybe he meant the darkness that was creeping into her vision. Suddenly there were loud voices and beeping noises again as they stuck something to her chest and she started struggling to get away. 

“Mr. Spencer, please put her down on the bed slowly,” the doctor said quickly and loudly. Eliot glanced at the team, and Nate nodded. He gently placed her down onto the bed where she immediately curled up into a tight ball to protect her organs, despite the fact that this was actually harming them more. Doctors shoved him aside when her monitor started flatlining, they almost got punched but Sophie grabbed his arm and pulled him back as they started cpr. They were performing CPR even as they rushed her out of the room and into surgery, and that’s when Leverage Inc. saw Eliot Spencer break for the first time ever. He sat on the floor against the wall and just buried his head in his hands silently. “GET OUT!” he bellowed at them after a second. Everyone except Nate filed out of the room, Nate just slid down next to him and handed him a tumbler almost full of whiskey. Eliot drank it all in three gulps and launched the glass at the opposite wall in fury. Neither man said anything as Eliot wiped the tears from his face and put his mask back in place. 

45 minutes later, a bed and equipment was wheeled into the room. Nate shuddered slightly at the sight of the ventilator, glad that Sam hadn’t been put on one of those. The surgeon spoke: “She’ll only be on the ventilator for a few hours. I’d sit with her like you were earlier in case she wakes up on it, we can’t risk giving her a sedative yet. One of her broken ribs went through her lungs, she probably tripped in the vent. We managed to repair it and we’re just keeping her on the ventilator as a precaution since her heart stopped for so long. We don’t know yet if there will be any brain damage.” Eliot breathed shallowly. He had watched the footage from when he had woken up and knew that he had done this when he squeezed her. Climbing had probably dislodged the rib from the hole in her lung, making it fill with blood and collapse. Brain damage. She may not wake up, or she may not remember anything, or she may be a vegetable. Breathe, Eliot, you don’t do panic attacks. He watched the doctors walk out and Nate practically dragged him to the hospital bed. He grabbed his arm back from the mastermind and glared when Nate shoved him onto the bed. “You get a chance to hold her again after that noise, Eliot. Think about that for a second,” He snarled, and walked out without another glance. Eliot glared at the door for a second and finally looked down at his daughter. He saw the bruise through the thin gown and realized with a pang of horror that it was exactly where he had squeezed. He stared at it for a minute, then slowly looked at her face. He jumped off the bed in horror a second later as he met wide, fearful blue eyes. 

Tubes. Lily hated tubes, ever since Moreau had shot her in the chest and then threw her onto the streets she had been found and woken up on tubes. She had gone to the states two years later, being a citizen. Moreau always made sure his subjects were born in the states with the DNA being passed as anonymous donations. He then killed the mother and brought them back to his country. She started to pull the tubes out again and growly’s hands shot out to stop her. She froze as he gently grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her face, and Lily backed away. Eliot sighed, letting go of her hands. He put something in his ear and growled at what he heard. Lily heard a sound from the door but didn’t move her eyes from growly. Eliot. Whatever, he was growly, and scary, and hurt bad people. He started to walk away, then stopped and walked closer, leaning down to talk quietly to her. He did the sad smile again when she flinched away, but said softly without any growl, “Sometimes we have to hurt people who are hurting others, or us. That doesn’t make you a bad person, Lily. I won’t ever hurt you on purpose, I promise darlin’. I’m sorry about earlier,” he said, and removed his earbud so the others didn’t hear the next part. “I used to be a bad guy. (Moreau, Lily thought. He’s talking about Moreau) I don’t wake up well, and I thought you were one of the bad guys when I was waking up. I’m sorry,” he repeated, and Lily stared at him with shock in her eyes. Nobody had ever apologized for hurting her before. Eliot realized this a second later and smiled sadly at her again. He started to walk away as he put the earbud in his ear.

Lily didn’t know what made her do it, because as soon as she did she flew backwards so fast she was a blur. She reached out and grabbed his shirt and he stiffened for a second as he turned to look at her arm. “Hey sweetheart, it’s okay,” He said when she backed away. He couldn’t stop the smile on his face. Knowing she wanted him to stay meant the world to him. He started to grab the chair to put next to the bed, but heard Nate tell him to sit in the bed and hold her. Lily looked at the open door, she had heard it too. They were watching them from the hallway, and she narrowed her eyes up at the camera. “Smart kid,” Hardison muttered over the comm. Eliot kept his eyes on Lily as he slowly sat on the bed. 

Lily forced herself not to flinch as he sat down and sat the bed at an angle to support his back, and she subtly attempted to scoot closer, eyes widening when he slowly and gently picked her up. Mind reader, she thought again as he laid her against his chest. He didn’t put his arms around her this time though. Her eyes started drooping a bit as she listened to his heart, which was a bit faster than it had been earlier in the night. She tried to stay awake, what if he fell asleep too and she woke him up? Lily started trembling, and jumped when arms gently wrapped around her again. Eliot let go immediately but she started trembling harder. “Do you want me to sit in the chair?” He whispered soothingly, frowning a bit when she shook her head frantically. Then his chest was getting damp again and he realized he should change shirts. “I need to get out of this shirt. I’m going to put you down for a minute,” Eliot told her calmly. 

Lily watched his every move when he quickly switched his shirt for a spider-man t-shirt. “Dammit, Hardison! Don’t switch out my clothes!” He immediately shut up when he saw Lily staring at his bare chest with confused eyebrows. He followed her sight and winced, it was a bullet scar from years ago. Smiling, he shrugged. “Don’t hurt at all anymore, kiddo. I’ve had that since you were a baby.” Eliot frowned when she pointed at his chest, then pointed at her chest, and back. Before he could say anything, though, a doctor walked in and clapped his hands loudly, making her jump and shrink back. 

“Excellent, you’re awake. We’re going to take out your tubes now. I need you to cough as hard as you can for me,” the doctor said, pressing a button. As Lily coughed, he pulled the tube out of her mouth. Lily whimpered, her chest HURT. Eliot quickly poured her a glass of water and held it steady for her as she took a long drink. She finished the entire cup, coughing again. Blood came out, but the doctor said “Just from the tube coming out. Shouldn’t be anything to worry about.” He walked out of the room, though not before reminding them pointedly where the bathroom was and how to take her heart monitor with them as well as opening a drawer that had pull-ups in it. Lily paled drastically, which wasn’t missed by Eliot. “Gotta go?” Lily shook her head slowly but looked down, ashamed. Realization crossed Eliot’s face then, as he said gently, “Already went then. Hopefully it’s just from the surgery, but if it's gonna be a thing, we can handle that. Nate, need you in here, don’t know how to handle that.” he added the last bit on, groaning internally as he realized he didn’t know how to change a diaper, and Lily was barely strong enough to keep her eyes open right now let alone change herself properly. He raised his eyebrows as Parker dragged Nate and Sophie into the room. “Parker, unless you wanna help change a diaper, you might not wanna be in here,” he growled, still angry at her and Sophie for making the kid run off. 

Parker rolled her eyes. The wolf wasn’t gonna scare her away from this as she said, “I don’t know how to change diapers, but she needs us in here,” Parker quickly added on to this when Eliot’s face darkened and fists tightened, “WE know you and Nate won’t do anything, but you saw her reaction earlier. It’s gonna be hard.” she said bluntly. Lily’s eyes were darting between the four people in the room now, and the heart monitor picked up a bit. ‘Nate’ slowly started walking towards her, Parker and Sophie following. His voice was a bit slurry when he spoke, and she remembered him being the one who told her her ‘daddy’ sang to her. “Hey, kiddo. We’re just going to change your pull-up and clean you up a bit. I had a kid so I know how to do it, but Eliot is going to be the one doing it, I’ll just be telling him how to do it. Parker and Sophie are here so you’re not the only girl, okay?” Lily looked distrustingly at Sophie, almost glaring. If a social worker saw her bruises she’d get taken away again, and nobody ever held her before. She didn’t want to go away, Lily realized then. The safest she’d ever felt was in Eliot’s arms last night. 

“I’m not a social worker, Lily. I’m a friend of your daddy, I’m not here to take you away. There might be one coming soon to ask you some questions, but as long as you say good things, they should let you stay,” Sophie said. Lily had seen Eliot stiffen and stare at her with a bit of hope when the word ‘daddy’ had left Sophie’s mouth, and she filed this away to analyze later. Maybe he wanted her to say it? Slowly, Lily nodded at Nate, and Eliot walked a bit closer, grabbing a pull-up, box of wipes, powder, and a towel on his way over. He had quickly put the spider-man shirt on when the doctor had walked in. Lily turned to stare a bit pleadingly at Parker, who grinned and walked closer as well. By the time Eliot and Nate were sitting on either side of her, Lily was trembling again. Eliot laid the towel down and gently placed Lily on it as per Nate’s instructions, and Lily screwed her eyes shut tightly when Nate told him to tear the diaper and pull the front forward and down. She was shaking more than ever and couldn’t help the violent flinch as Eliot pulled the tiny gown up and tore the sides. “Back off,” Parker hissed as everyone in the room gasped. She felt him move away and opened her eyes suspiciously. Eliot was staring at her in slight horror mixed with sadness and a fury that immediately made her curl up. She had heard the others talk about the man enough to know that tears in his eyes weren’t normal ever, and she looked away guiltily. Curling up had made the rest of her diaper come away, and Nate quickly grabbed it away. A scream rose from her throat automatically and everyone backed off as she closed her eyes and silently started to sob. Nate looked like he’d been slapped, and Eliot had murder in his eyes. There were so many more bruises on her than he’d expected, more bruises on a child than he’d ever had at one time. And Eliot had been tortured and imprisoned before. 

“Just tell me what to do and get out, all of you!” Eliot growled again. Nate and Sophie complied, but Parker hesitated, and he leveled her with a glare. “You too, Parker.” She crossed her arms. “No. I’m not leaving. I’ll change her. Sit on the bed and hold her upper body,” She said resolutely, and Eliot sighed and did what she said. Lily’s eyes flew open in terror and pain as Parker started cleaning her up, the wipes burned the cuts. She whimpered and Eliot held her and stroked her hair when she hid into his leg. Finally Parker dried her off and powdered her, and struggled to get the diaper fastened properly but eventually managed it. Lily shrieked a bit when Eliot helped Parker with the fastening, but immediately quieted. Parker considered for a moment, then decided to just take off Lily’s gown altogether. It wasn’t doing anything to keep her warm and kids as young as her went around in just diapers all the time. Both Parker and Eliot gasped in horror when it was off though. There were just so many bruises and scars.

Eliot remembered what had happened earlier when he changed and glanced at where Lily had been pointing half heartedly with a huge double take immediately after. There was a bullet shaped wound in almost the exact spot his own was. He met Lily’s eyes and they both said who shot them at the same time: “Moreau.” Eliot pulled Lily up to his chest again and shifted against the bed. He hesitated before carefully wrapping his arms around her. Lily tried not to jump and he smiled sadly. Neither of them saw Parker slip out of the room. Eliot still couldn’t believe how tiny the 8 year old was. She could fit on his chest comfortably, and he could hold her easily. He chuckled slightly and she jumped and looked up at him in confusion. “I just never pictured myself cuddling with anyone, especially someone so tiny,” he smirked playfully at her, and tightened his arms around her gently. 

Lily didn’t think before she asked her question. “Did Moreau really tell you about me?” both of them froze, Lily, because she hadn’t meant to ask a question, and Eliot, because he didn’t know how he should answer. “Tell her the truth. It’s just Parker and I here now.” Nate said in his ear, and he dropped his arms from around her as he tried to figure out how to say what had been going through his mind. “I never really wanted kids,” he started, wincing when she flinched and Nate yelled at him. “Moreau made us give DNA in order to work with him, and he told me that you existed right when I was trying to leave him. He’d shot me when I tried to leave before, so to get me to stay he told me he had you. He threatened to kill my family and girlfriend if I tried to take you with me, and I had no choice. I woulda been a terrible dad to grow up with anyway, little one. I was always so busy. I’m sorry for leaving you there,” he said honestly, realizing his mistake a second too late. 

Lily was trembling and crying silently again. He really didn’t want her. He was going to send her back to the foster people. It hadn’t even been a day and he was already better than anyone she’d ever known, and he was gonna send her back. Her vision was greying out; Lily tried to stop hyperventilating but it wasn’t working. The words sounded miles away: “Heyyy darlin’, that’s it. In, and out. In, and out. Gotta calm down, okay? You’re not going back to those people that hurt you. If anyone hurts you, I’ll end them.” Eliot was rubbing circles into her back, a technique a chinese massage therapist had taught him for calming down. He smiled when it started working, and wrapped his arms around her again. Eliot gently stroked her arm and hummed until he saw her slightly red eyes start drooping finally. 

Lily felt safe. When growly man started to hum, the growl was mixing in with his heartbeat and made her feel even safer. She was warm, and someone was singing to her, and holding her, and making her feel safe. Lily fell asleep a few seconds after realizing that maybe she could trust him and call him daddy. Maybe.

Eliot flat out refused to fall asleep that night, despite Nate and Parker walking in and insisting he tried. He was glad about his decision when Lily jerked bolt upright without warning five hours after falling asleep. She slammed her head into his jaw, hard, by accident and tried to scramble off the bed but he grabbed her. His jaw was stinging but that didn’t matter as Lily threw up water and acid all over him. So that’s why she woke up. He cursed as she jumped off the bed faster than he could move, ripping off the wires that connected the heart monitor by accident in the process. Alarms sounded and Nate and Parker were awake and on their feet instantly, scaring Lily further. She scrambled into the corner trying to make herself as small as possible as nurses rushed in to turn the flatline off. Nate told everyone to go outside and wait a minute, and Eliot, surprisingly, complied with one last desperate look at Lily. He stood by the open door in case she tried to bolt, smiling a fake smile at a nurse who handed him a pair of spare scrubs.

Lily watched Eliot walk out of the room and stopped curling so tightly, it was hurting her ribs. She threw up on him and he didn’t hit her; she was confused. Now, Nate was in the room. Lily looked at him cautiously, not sure if growly or slurry was worse in this case. She could smell the alcohol on him and watched his movement warily, but he only sat on the floor a bit aways from her. His eyes were kind looking, but she couldn’t let her guard down. Sometimes those were the worst looks, and she trembled as she shoved that thought away. “I had a son your age, once. He was a lot bigger than you though. Water always helped when he threw up, do you want some water?” Nate said quietly. She nodded hesitantly, stiffening when he sat next to her to help her drink it. “Your daddy isn’t mad at you for throwing up on him, promise. He’s just worried about you.” Lily frowned at this. “Why?” she asked softly. 

Nate tilted his head, confused. Then his eyes widened as realization that she didn’t know why he cared hit. “You’re his daughter. Parents have to care,” he said, suddenly unsure what Eliot would want him to not say. “He didn’t care before I found him, though,” Lily stated simply, and Nate actually flinched as he heard Eliot’s breath catch. “Wanna ask him why he cares?” Nate asked suddenly, an idea forming in his head. Lily hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Eliot, come in here and tell Lily why you care about her,” Nate said, loud enough for him to hear from the hallway. There was a hint of anger in his voice, and Lily shrank back a bit from it. Lily watched both men warily, curling up tighter with the two of them in the room. Eliot took his earbud out of his ear and told Nate to leave. He then narrowed his eyes at the camera and pressed a button on it. Lily retreated further into the corner, wondering if he was gonna hurt her like the bad guys now. He didn’t even try to touch her as he knelt on his knees in front of her. Eliot looked nervous, and truthfully, he was. “I care because I’m your daddy, Lily. I didn’t know what that really meant, until you found me. I’m your daddy, and,” he swallowed, “and I love you.” He didn’t even get to see her face, because the next thing he knew the wind was knocked out of him and his arms were full of a sobbing Lily. She had launched herself at him and hid in his stomach, soaking it even more. He cradled her to her chest as he stood up and saw Nate standing in the doorway, pride in his eyes. Parker was peeking in and grinned at him. He rolled his eyes and glared. Damn. His reputation was ruined now. He sat down on the bed in the same way he had before she woke up, and just held her close until the crying finally subsided.

‘Nobody will ever love you, freak’ was something Lily had heard at every single foster home she had stayed at. When Eliot had said he loved her, it made her entire world light up a bit and she’d just reacted. Finally, Lily had hope that maybe things would be different, and she couldn’t stop crying. Crying for all the times people had hit her, said they hated her, and hurt her. And called her freak. Even when her eyes were growing heavy, she still had tears leaking. His chest was rumbling, then, and she quieted to hear what he was saying. Not saying, no, he was singing. It was quiet, like the first time she had heard him sing. “And when a new moon shines in your window” he continued, growing a bit more confident when he remembered the first time he had sung this song and when he realized Lily was listening, only sniffling now. “That’s just me, thinking of you,” he finished quietly. As Lily’s eyes slipped closed, she mumbled, “I love you too daddy,” as quietly as she could. Eliot’s heart felt like it skipped 3 beats when he registered what she’d said, and he glanced at the doorway again. Tears were in Parker’s eyes and her phone was in her hand, recording. He glared daggers at her but didn’t say anything. Nate looked a little distant, like he was remembering Sam again. He still smiled when he saw Eliot’s worried look, though. “You were meant to be a dad, Eliot,” Nate whispered, then walked into the room and sat on the couch, Parker following suit. They all just stared at the girl that had managed to worm her way into the toughest team members’ hearts within less than a week.


	4. Sparky, Social Workers, and Pajamas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A social worker comes to talk to Lily, Sophie goes shopping, and cute fluff ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is too out of character for Eliot. I rewatched the carnival job and he was just so good with Molly.

Eliot was awake this time when the trembling started. No way in hell he’d fall asleep again, guilt about hurting his daughter was tearing him apart inside. It was early morning when Lily started having the worst nightmare, she’d been sleeping fitfully through the night. He jumped a bit when she started pleading, and he felt something in him breaking just a bit. 

“No, please, I won’t do it please don’t-” she whimpered.

“Lily, darlin’, it’s just a bad dream, promise. Everything is okay, you’re safe…” he continued quietly soothing her, even as she stiffened and her eyes flew open and up to look at him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Eliot asked quietly, not too sure that he wanted to know what the child had been dreaming about. She made him want to track every foster family she’d ever had down and torture them. Lily shook her head frantically, and he smiled softly at her and pushed her head back down onto his chest. Nate had thrown a blanket over top of them both a bit after Lily had fallen asleep last night, and Eliot pulled it closer over her. She was still wearing just the diaper but didn’t seem to notice. 

Lily was just starting to fall asleep when Hardison and Sophie walked in, Hardison being none too quiet. She startled at the appearance of the lady she had thought was a social worker and a total stranger, and started trying to get off the bed but Eliot’s arms firmly held her in place. 

“Dammit, Hardison!” Eliot growled out of habit, and immediately felt guilty as his daughter flinched and stiffened. “Lily, this is another member of my team. His name is Alec Hardison and he’s mostly harmless, but he’s annoying and geeky as hell,” he smirked as Hardison glared at him.

“Hey there, kid. Man, Eliot said you were tiny but you look like a freakin’ infant. I’m Alec, but you can call me Hardison like everyone else does if you want,” Hardison said, smiling at Lily like he would at some of the less fortunate foster kids his Nana took in. It was true, Lily looked like she couldn’t be older than two years old. She was curled up protectively in Eliot’s arms with room to spare. 

“Hi,” Lily whispered quietly, to everyone in the room’s surprise, including her own. Hardison seemed nice, and Eliot had said he was basically harmless, but Lily still didn’t trust strangers, and it must have shown in her eyes because what Hardison said next shocked everyone in the room. 

“Want me to show you how to make a fake ID?” He asked, grinning at her and pulling out his laptop. Lily frowned a bit in confusion and just stared at him, blinking. Eliot carefully put her down on the bed as he got up to talk quietly to Sophie, and Hardison pulled the chair over next to the bed to talk to her. The heart monitor only picked up slightly when Hardison sat down, and Eliot shook his head. He hated to admit it, but the geek seemed to have a talent with kids. Lily even seemed to be paying attention, and he mildly wondered if showing his kid how to be a criminal was a good idea; ah what the hell, she was gonna be raised by a bunch of ‘em. Might as well get used to that fact.

“She needs clothes and supplies before she leaves the hospital. I don’t know the first thing about kids,” Eliot all but growled.

Sophie looked hesitant, but she had to ask. “Are you sure that you should be taking in a kid right now with our line of work?” She hastily continued when Eliot got a look like he was going to start throwing punches, “I realize that you feel you owe her. But we’re in danger every day, and you’re the team’s hitter. Where is she going to go if something happens to you, or what if something happens to her because of our job?”

“It ain’t gonna happen. She killed a man at four years old, she really is my daughter. She may look like a tiny little kid, but she ain’t going anywhere and I can train her to protect herself. Hardison can teach her to hack, Nate can teach her to think, and Parker can teach her to steal. You’re gonna teach her how to grift, nobody is gonna suspect a little kid. The word is out already that Eliot Spencer has a kid, and a defenseless looking toddler kid at that. She’s gonna be in danger wherever she goes and there’s no fuckin’ way she’s going back to a foster home as long as I’m alive. Don’t even ask me to leave her again, because it ain’t happening. I told you it was the worst thing I ever did when I worked with Moreau,” Eliot finished, the matter was closed and Sophie knew there was no arguing with him at that last comment.

“I’ve always wanted to go shopping for a kid! Leave it to me, I’ll be back before noon, unless I get carried away.” Sophie had a mischievous glint in her eye as she said this and Eliot growled. “Don’t go too overboard, I don’t need a spoiled kid,” he said halfheartedly, Lily would never have a spoiled attitude no matter how hard they tried to give it to her thanks to Moreau and her fosters. Hell, it was going to be hard enough to get her to act like a normal kid. She may only be 8 but she already had the instincts of an adult because of her upbringing. Eliot only hoped that a kid was still lurking inside her, he didn’t want Moreau taking the rest of her childhood away even if the man was locked up.

Sophie only smiled sadly at him before walking out of the room, and he headed to the couch where Parker had slept the night before. Both Nate and Parker were sitting on it and staring at the bed. Eliot glanced over but had to do a double take seconds later. Lily was perched up on the bed and staring intently at the computer screen that Hardison had sitting on the bed and was leaning over. He had moved on from creating fake ID’s and was now showing her how to hack bank accounts. Yeah, she was totally gonna be one of them. Eliot groaned, but was hiding the fact that he was impressed. Hardison had captured her interest AND got her to slightly trust him in under ten minutes! He watched as Hardison explained that this was one of their previous marks.

Lily liked Hardison. He was nice and spoke softly like her daddy had last night. She was a bit confused about the stuff he was explaining, but never asked questions. She had learned her lesson on what happened if she asked questions years ago. Lily had seen Sophie leave but when she had glanced, Sophie caught her eye and smiled, shaking her head subtly. 

The team sat in companionable silence for a few more moments, with Hardison quietly explaining what he was doing, until the heart monitor started going wild. Eliot shot to his feet to stand in front of Lily, arms crossed as a man in a suit walked in, a slightly intimidating (for Lily) look in his eyes. 

“Hello, my name is Evan Florington, I’m Lily’s social worker. I need everyone to step out of the room so that I can ask some questions,” the man said, not exactly smiling. Eliot tried to quell the rage building inside of him at these words, but was having a difficult time of it as he glanced back at Lily, seeing the utter terror in her eyes. 

“I ain’t goin’ anywhere, you sent her back to those damn places every time. She had to have told at least someone. How the hell could you not have seen the bruises or signs? Tell the agency to send someone else and get the hell out of this room before I call the cops on you,” Eliot practically yelled.

The man smirked as he looked back at Lily, who had instinctively jumped off the bed and backed away from Eliot as he yelled. “She won’t be with you long either, once the other workers see how scared of you she is. She’ll go straight back to the foster homes, you just watch,” the man said, then walked out of the room even as Eliot clenched his fists and took a few menacing steps forward. The second the man left the room, though, Eliot’s rage faded and he started walking toward Lily, who had by this point disappeared under the hospital bed.

Lily knew Eliot wouldn’t hurt her on purpose but that didn’t quite stop her from shrinking back when Eliot approached her. He was just so scary when he yelled and growled; and she was used to hiding, anyway. Her eyes widened when he growled for everyone to leave the room and they did. 

Eliot knelt down and made eye contact with Lily who shrank back even further under the bed, eyes filled with terror. He smiled at her, but there was a bitter sadness in his eyes that he couldn’t quite conceal fully. “Hey darlin’, I’m sorry I yelled but I had to. That man wouldn’t have left if I didn’t, and I didn’t want him alone in the room with you at all. Has he ever hurt you? I won’t be angry at ya for being honest, I promise kid,” Eliot spoke soothingly, but there was an undercurrent of urgency in his voice. He suspected that the social worker had been abusive to Lily as well, and her increasing heart rate (the doctors had given her longer wires this time) told him all he needed to know. 

The tiny girl froze. Her head whipped around to the door, and when she looked back at Eliot there were tears silently falling down her face. Hesitantly and slowly, she nodded and started to crawl out from under the bed. She was starting to shiver now, the blanket had been left on the bed when she’d jumped off. Lily didn’t flinch this time as Eliot slowly wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, but she did wrap her tiny arms around his neck and bury her face in his shoulder as the tears continued to fall. “Darlin, it’s okay to cry and make noise, I ain’t gonna be mad about it,” Eliot said softly. He was smiling softly though, this was the first time she’d ever hugged him. Lily sniffled softly as the rest of the team walked back in, and Eliot moved to sit in the chair Hardison had vacated. He deftly ignored the chorus of “aww’s” that the team exclaimed as he shot a glare over Lily. Her crying was subsiding a bit but she was still shivering. He glanced at the door and realized it would probably be a couple hours still until Sophie got back. 

“Lily, I’m going to give you to Hardison for a little bit while I go grab some lunch from the cafeteria, is that okay?” Eliot asked softly, smiling at her when she looked up at him. Hardison looked slightly cautious knowing how troubled of a past the little girl had had, but if Eliot was trusting him with this he sure as hell wasn’t gonna refuse. Lily shifted her gaze to Hardison. Truthfully, she wanted to just stay safe in her daddy’s arms (she started at the thought- She’d never felt safe anywhere before) but she knew not to argue. Slowly, she nodded. 

Eliot carefully handed the toddler over to Hardison, but Lily didn’t know what to do so she just stiffened and tried to lean away from him. Then she caught Parker’s eye, who was nodding at her pointedly, and relaxed a bit. If Parker and Eliot trusted Hardison, maybe she could try too. Lily nervously bunched her fists into Hardison’s shirt as Eliot walked out of the room with one final glance at his daughter.

Recognizing that Lily was shivering, Hardison shifted her onto his hip a bit and grabbed the blanket from the bed. He wrapped it around her skillfully without putting her down. He then sat on the chair again and put the laptop on the armrest with Lily on his lap and continued showing her how to hack a bank account like nothing had happened.

Eliot hadn’t lied, he was going to grab lunch, but he wanted to make a detour after. He ordered burgers for the team and chicken broth for Lily, and as soon as he walked out carrying the bags of food he almost ran into Sophie, who had about seven full bags of clothes and who knows what else. “I’m goin’ to the gift shop real quick, kid was freezin’ her ass off up there and not complainin’ ‘bout a thing. Wanna come with me?” He asked hesitantly, relaxing a bit when Sophie nodded. They walked toward the gift shop.

Sophie squealed when she saw the giant stuffed wolf dog in the window. “It has your eyes!!” she said, smirking. It had piercing blue eyes. He growled, the damn thing was bigger than Lily sitting down. It was a floppy lookin’ thing, and he really, really wanted to tell Sophie that it looked ridiculous, but as she rushed to grab it he found that he couldn’t say no. He found a soft blue blanket that had teddy bears on it and immediately picked it up, putting it on the counter to pay for it along with the wolf. At the last second he spotted the balloons and met Sophie’s eyes. They were totally doing this. He picked out a simple red balloon with the words get well soon on it and tied it to the Wolf’s paw. He whistled at the total price, but it didn’t matter as he imagined the look on Lily’s face when they walked in with it. He tied the blanket around the wolf as a cape, and they made their way up the elevator. Eliot looked completely ridiculous with a dark, menacing look on his face carrying a four foot tall wolf that bore a strange resemblance to him. He glared even more as Sophie tried to hide her laughter.

Lily’s eyes were growing heavy as she became bored, so Hardison switched over to a funny video and soon Lily was trying not to giggle as people fell off of bikes doing stupid things and got pushed into water. When Nate and Parker suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter, Lily shot off the chair faster than Hardison could move, but before she could hide under the bed again she froze in place. Her very annoyed and grumpy looking father’s face softened minutely when he saw the trepidation in her eyes, and he slowly made his way toward her after sitting the bags of food down on the table. 

“This big guy told me he’s here to protect you with me, and you have to give him a name,” Eliot said softly, ignoring the snickers of his team. He was not being Eliot Spencer right now. He took the cape blanket off of the wolf and wrapped it around Lily’s shivering form, picking her up at the same time. He sat the wolf up on the bed and then sat her right in front of it. Her eyes were impossibly huge and, upsettingly, filling with tears again. Parker, however, chose this moment to squeal and leap over to the bed, poking the wolf in the eye and leaning down to Lily’s ear to whisper conspiratorially into her ear. “I call Eliot Sparky sometimes because of his eyes. You should call the wolf Sparky, it has his eyes and you know how growly and wolf-like Eliot is! It’s the perfect name!”

Lily giggled, and Eliot almost spit out the water he’d taken a sip of. It was the first time he’d ever heard her laugh, and it was better than any music he’d ever heard. He glanced suspiciously at Parker, but practically beamed at Lily. “Wanna fill us in on what’s so funny, kiddo?” 

“His name is Sparky!” Lily said simply, and Nate DID spit out his coffee, while Parker cheered. Hardison grinned, and Sophie covered her mouth. Eliot simply stared at her, mouth slightly opened, and stunned. The small smile Lily had melted away and she shrank back a bit into the wolf’s chest when he stopped smiling, and suddenly she was scared. Freaks aren’t allowed to giggle and they’re definitely not supposed to call their foster parents names. She had just broken both of those rules, so she closed her eyes and readied herself for the blows to start falling. 

But they never did. Instead, Eliot’s face looked crushed that he had caused his daughter to react in this way. He sat down on the bed and pulled her into his lap, gently stroking her hair and murmuring comforting words in her ear. He once again felt his chest getting wet with tears and sighed, continuing to try to soothe her. Eliot looked to Nate for help, who mimed rocking her with his hands. Hesitantly, glaring at the others as if daring them to judge his reputation for this, he started rocking her back and forth and singing the song he had sung during the radio job to her. Reputation be damned, he didn’t want to risk ever hearing that flatline sound again as his child’s heart stopped and his world shattered. A shiver ran through him at the memory, and Nate seemed to read his mind as he glanced at the heart monitor, which was still going strong and steady. Lily’s sobs turned into sniffles, and she started calming down a bit. 

Slowly, Lily looked up at her father with red eyes, and relaxed a bit more when he smiled at her and finished the song. Leaning her head against his chest she calmed even more when she heard his ever steady and calm heartbeat. Hesitating for a moment, she glanced at the others, who had retreated a bit and now smiled at her encouragingly. Sophie clapped her hands, and Lily jumped a bit. 

“Right, then! I brought more presents,” she said, digging into one of the bags and handing Lily a blue bear. Then, seeming to realize that Lily was still in just a diaper, she dug out a soft looking pair of footie pajamas that had zebra stripes on them. Sophie tossed them to Eliot, who caught them while hardly looking. Eliot stared sheepishly at the pajamas, then at Lily, and then at Nate, who snickered but took pity on him. 

“Stand up on the bed, please, Lily,” Nate said softly but firmly. Lily scrambled up and did as she was told and Eliot glared lightly at Nate. “She’s not a toddler even if she looks like one,” he hissed at him. Nate ignored him and moved toward Lily, helping her step into the cozy pajamas. Once all her limbs were in place, Eliot zipped up the onesie and fastened the button that held the zipper in place, giving her a smile while he did it. She tentatively gave a small smile back, which made his smile turn into a full grin. Even his eyes were smiling as he hugged her close and she didn’t flinch, but relaxed. She was warm, and safe, and sleepy, but he didn’t let her sleep yet. Instead, he motioned for Nate to grab the soup he had set down on the table and started helping her eat the light broth. It had been over a week since she had eaten, and she couldn’t remember a time she’d been given a full meal (it had never happened, she always got scraps) so Eliot fed her slowly and didn’t argue when she couldn’t even finish half of the broth. Now warm, full, and decidedly safe, Lily fell asleep once again in her father’s arms. She missed the next social worker visit, who had simply smiled at the sight of the little one in her father’s arms and said she’d come back. The doctor also walked in, telling them that she could probably leave within the next couple of days since Eliot had medical training. 

Eliot hadn’t slept all night and he was dangerously close to losing the battle to stay awake. He started to set Lily down but she whimpered and clutched his shirt in a death grip. Lily wasn’t fully awake at all, yet didn’t want to leave the safety and warmth of the nest she was in, which was actually her father’s arms. He grumbled a bit but immediately quieted as she woke up a bit from the vibration in his chest, but Lily fell back asleep fast as she focused on his heart rate, which was still calm and steady. He looked at Nate for help, who by this point was the only one still in the room along with Sophie. 

“Go to sleep, Eliot. We’ll take turns watching you both and we’ll grab her if either of you start to wake up. Just trust us,” Nate said calmly. Three years ago, Eliot would never have fallen asleep in front of these people, but now, as his eyes closed, he realized he not only cared for his team, but he also trusted them. Both he and Lily were safe tonight, and with that thought, he finally drifted into sleep.


End file.
